Archive for the 'South East Asia' Category
Finally, another post! Bali!
Another post. Going to keep them short and simple.
We flew into Bali very early and spent the day tired. Bad news to be tired when meeting up with our friend Brooke. Hard enough keeping up with him.
We stayed at Poppies, which was very cool. They were like private cottages in a garden atmosphere; the open air bathroom was very neat. The drive to the resort seemed a lot nicer than the resort areas of Thailand. Much cleaner and the people more friendly.
We chilled out at the beach… some fairly large waves. Larger than I have ever seen. Although Brooke says he has seem them much higher there. Went out for a bit at night, Brooke showing us a bunch of clubs. We went home early, very tired and partied too much.
Next day hungover! Did not do much this day.
The next day we spent by the pool and ocean. Surf was high. Ate a burger and frieds that cost only 20,000 RP (about $10). Partied again at night, at a few different bars. Kuta is a very hip place, I really liked it. We hung out with a group of Australians and went back for a swim at our hotel in the early morning, about 4 am.
Next day Jen was hungover! We managed to grab dinner that was included with our stay at Poppies.
The next day we had a massage and then headed to Jimbaran Bay. We stayed at the Intercontinental which was a nice 5-star resort. The only really posh place we stayed at on this trip. Prices here we much different than Kuta. Where a lunch could be had for $2 in Kuta, our first lunch here was $50 – for a couple of club sandwiches.
On Jimbaran Bay, for dinner, there are a bunch of seafood eateries that setup shop by the beach. Nice and romantic, with candlelight. We ate at at one place and for $30 had a lobster, a crab, 2 different fish, some huge prawns and other goodies. It was great. We also split a bottle of wine.
The next day we hung around the pool after eating breakfast at a place on the beach. We checked into another hotel, Puri Bambu, which was $40 as compared to the $190 at Intercontinental. I liked it better! Not only was it cheaper, but I liked the intimate atmosphere. It was in the middle of nowhere though close the airport, which was the reason we stayed here. Jen is going to get a pedicure then we are staying in to have room service for dinner.
Next day we are back to Bangkok.
New post finally! Bangkok
It has been awhile since I made a post. We got tired of the slow internet and writing as we go. It has been a few months but I thought I would continue. I will not be able to go into much detail as I forgot a lot and have to go on a few notes I jotted down. A lot of what I felt is gone as well. But here it goes.
We flew into Bangkok morning time and checked into our hotel, Lamphu Tree House. At first we were worried – there was no street and we left the cab, we proceeded down a dank alley next to a dirty canal – but we eventually arrived and were pleasantly surprised. Lamphu had to be the best hotel value-wise we stayed at. It was about $40 CDN a night. It had a swimming pool and was clean. The restaurant served decent food.
We then checked out Kao San Road which was a mash of shops and full of travelling hippies. I did not find it impressive. It was a let-down after hearing about it from friends. We ended up going to bed early.
During the night the thunderstorm was the loudest storm I have ever heard. It woke us up several times. The next day it rained. Actually it poured. Sometime in the afternoon it stopped and we went to check out the Grand Palace. We then took the River Express Boat to Chinatown. The River Express was great value and good for transportation to some areas of Bangkok. Chinatown was slum like but charming. We also checked the National Museum. Very, very boring. It contained mostly replicas.
We again went to bed early to get ready for our 6:30 am flight to Bali.
A night at Chengmon beach, Koh Samui
We flew into Koh Samui and stayed one night at Whitehouse resort. It was a great hotel with a perfect quiet beach. Being our first day, and unaccustomed to the Thai sun, we got burnt within a couple of hours.
The sun is so much more intense out here. We took a walk along the beach and took it easy for the rest of the day.
The next day we rented scooters for about $6 CDN and rode for a couple of hours to Numaung waterfall. We had a swim in its pool. On the way there, after turning onto the road leading to it we got scammed. A Thai man has a shack setup and blocked the road, pointing to a little parking pad. We thought we had to park there and pay to continue. We did not, it was free. Asshole.
We had a ride on an elephant as you will see in the pictures. At night we took a ferry to Koh Phagnan where we will be staying for 5 nights.
I will have to post later
I will have to post in more detail when we get back. I think I will post once a day for each place once we get back. The internet is not good at all here.
The past week we were at a few different islands. We checked out a lot of beaches. The weather has been great.
We are really starting to not like the Thail people. Some are very nice, but most seem to want to get a buck out of you at every chance. We have been scammed a few times, overpaying for a taxi, and paying to enter a free site. It was only a few bucks, but it is the point. They call it the land of smiles but I call it the land of “50 baht.”
The beaches are gorgeous and the weather had been hot, so cannot really complain there. The cities and towns are very ugly though. Garbage everywhere.
We are in Bangkok again for a couple of days, then off to Bali. I’ll try and post more, but the pics and more details will have to wait.
A couple of days in Chiang Mai
Today we head to Chiang Mai with a stop in Lampang to visit the Thai Elephant Conservatory. The drive lasted about 5 hours, with 3 hours of very nice driving. About 3 hours of the drive consisted of continuous s-bends through mountains. It was great. I only wish I had my BMW from home, and not the unaggressive or not-fun Toyota rental.
About an hour before Chiang Mai we hit a town called Lampang and went the conservatory. We watched people training as handler’s bath the elephants in the river, and then we watched a short show with the elephants performing. We then continued to Chiang Mai after some ice cream. The drive took a bit longer than expected as we missed the exit and had to drive through rush hour traffic downtown. That was not fun.
We arrived at our hotel, Imperial Mae Ping, in the late afternoon and had a swim. We then went out for a couple beers and food and checked out the Night Bazaar. The bazaar consisted of hundreds of outdoor and indoor stalls selling food, goods, knock-offs and souvenirs. We then went to a Seafood place in the middle of the Bazaar. We were unsure what was on the platter we ordered and could not eat it. We left without eating much at all.
The next day I woke at 6:30 am and grabbed a couple of coffees from a Starbucks nearby, leaving Jen some extra time to get ready. We then left to check out some sites after a quick breakfast. We found a tuk-tuk driver to give us a tour of the major sites and temples. We were tired of walking and biking. Chiang Mai has the largest collection of temples outside of Bangkok.
We then went back to the hotel for a swim and some beers. We had lunch at McDonalds which is as gross as back home. We then had a pedicure and manicure. I found that boring, but I do what I do to please Jen.
Later in the evening we went for a walk and then dinner at a place called The House. We ordered a bottle of wine and several dishes from the tapas menu. It was great. It was our best meal so far, tied with the restaurant in Ayutthaya. Afterwards we headed to the Night Bazaar for more shopping and beers.
On the last day we had some spa treatments done at the hotel. Again I go all out to please Jen. We had a three hour treatment. We had a body wrap, massage and facial, for about $70 CDN. Very cheap when compared to spa prices back home.
Being sick of trains and driving, and not looking forward to 13 hours more to get back to Bangkok, we are taking a one hour flight back. The flight is at 9 pm so we checked out at about 1 pm and relaxed by the pool for the rest of the day.
Our next stop is Koh Samui for the beach.
Our stay in Sukhothai
Today we travelled to Sukhothai. We had our choice of travel options between renting a car or the bus. After spending the past two days travelling by train, Jen was not looking forward to the bus. She was also not looking forward to me driving. But I won. It was very hard trying to find out where to rent a car as nobody at the hotel we stayed at could speak English. We rented the only car they had at Budget, a “medium” sized car. It was a Toyota Camry.
Although Phitsanulok is a small city, it was not easy to drive in. The Thai people are crazy drivers. They do no signal, obey traffic signals or lanes. It was scary driving on the left side of the road. We finally made it out of the city and the drive to Sukhothai took about an hour.
After arriving in Sukhothai we checking into our hotel, called Ruean Thai. We thought it was a great little place. They had very authentic looking rooms and grounds, with a great pool.
Afterward, we went to the Sukhothai National Park. It is a 50 km sq park with a collection of ruins. We spent a few hours on bikes touring the place. I really mean touring. We ended up getting lost and circling the place.
We then went back to the hotel for a swim and a late afternoon lunch. The lunch was great. We had 3 dishes and 2 beers for about $10 CDN. We really liked this place and wish we were staying another day. If we did this again I would skip staying in Phitsanulok and just head straight here.
For dinner and drinks we went to Dream Cafe. The food was not memorable but the nik naks they have around are. That alone was worth the trip there.
We are looking forward to a couple of days in Chiang Mai for some sites and shopping.
Travel to Phitsanulok
Today we began the day with breakfast at the hotel as we had some time before our train. This train ended up being cleaner and faster than the last. It was enjoyable. The trip took 4 hours and I think the distance was about 400km. They gave us a meal and drinks and only cost about $20 CDN for a ticket!
We checked into our hotel when we arrived, a place called Topland. It was decent, nicer than the last. We did not get to use the pool this time as it was raining. It would have been nice as there is not much to do in this city during the day. We just checked out Wat Phrasi Fattara Mahathat.
At night we went to the Night Bazaar. It was neat and had a lot of shopping stalls and food places. We ate here and I bought a wallet for about $1.50 CDN.
Looking forward to tomorrow when we travel to Suckothai.
Travel to Ayutthaya
Today we travelled to the town of Ayutthaya. We were very tired. We woke at 3:30 am and could not fall back asleep, still on Toronto time I guess. We travelled by train at the hottest time of year, and there was no air conditioning at the station. On top of that it was 50 minutes late. We boiled. The train we took was old and very dirty, but I must admit it had some charm. Bad start, although the day did turn out great.
We then checked into a hotel called Krungsi River Hotel. It was a decent hotel and served its purpose. The price was right, about $30 CDN. We had lunch there and went for a swim to cool off. Again, it was very hot. It was about 40 Celsius.
We then rented bikes and toured around the town, checking out a lot of Wats and ruins. They included What Maha That, Wat Ratchaburana, Wat Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit and What Phra Si Sanphet. What Maha That was definitely the most memorable. We also checked out the ancient palace. We were very tired and still jet-lagged but managed to do it. I do not think many people travel at this time of year as we were the only westerners. I guess it is too hot.
We had our best dinner so far at this town, at a place called The Old Place. It was on river and had a nice atmosphere. We had three dishes; Fried chicken with lemon sauce, Fried rice with prawns, chicken and pork, deep fried shrimp cakes and 4 beers. The total came to only about $15!
It was a tiring and cranky day to start, but turned out great.
Our first day – in Bangkok
Our first day in Thailand was very tiring. We had gone to bed after getting in at about 1:30 am. We woke the next day at 10:30, as Jen would not get up early with me. I originally woke at 5:30 and had a tough time falling back asleep.
We proceeded to then do what Jen does best – Shop. Within 20 minutes of us leaving the hotel, she had new shoes. There is a wide variety of shops, from discount to Armani, Dolce and Gabbana and more. We shopped at discount malls, sidewalk stalls, and huge malls like MBK, Siam Center and Siam Paragon. Bangkok has a LOT of shopping. Jen could not get enough. I almost pulled the rest of my hair out.
After the boring shopping we went to check out the Jim Thompson house. Jim Thompson was an American that fell in love with Thailand and moved there. He introduced the Thai silk industry to the west. It was an interesting place. Some photos are below but we were not allowed to take photos of the inside.
We ate at a French restaurant that was recommended in Frommer’s called Le Banyan. We did not want to be there. It was a little too formal and we wish we had gone to a fun place.
I will note that Bangkok was very hot, about 38 Celsius and walking around was a difficult with the heat, the amount of people, and the stalls. It seems like every square inch of sidewalk is taken up by some type of vender.
We also took the Skytrain to get around. It is similar to our subway system, but it is above the main roads. It is odd walking underneath it. Almost seems like the sidewalks and roads are underground.
We ended up hitting the sack early as we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.
We have arrived
After 27 hours of grueling travel, we have finally arrived at our hotel in Bangkok. I will post some more tomorrow. going to grab a bite to eat and get some sleep. 12:45 am here.
